Game apparatus.



PATENTED OCT. 31, 1905.

0. R. JUDGE.

GAME APPARATUS.

APPLIOATION FILED 00T.17. 1904. 1

3 SHEETS-SHEET l.

NVENTOR WITNESSES.

PATENTED OCT. 31, 1905.

c. R. JUDGE.

GAME APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED 0OT.17, 1904.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

wlTNESSES.

' 'NVENTOR M Q. BY M w ATTORNEY.

PATENTED OCT. 31, 1905.

C. R. JUDGE.

GAME APPARATUS.

APPLICATION rum) OCT. 17. 1904.

.3 SHEETSSHEET 3.

NVENTOR Bv A 7%(717rc ATTORNEY.

WITNESSES. Mfla/ 50 UNITED STATES PATENT ()FFIGE.

GAME APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 31, 1905.

Application filed October 17, 1904. Serial No. 228,749.

To atZZ whom. it may concern.-

Be it known that I, CHARLES R. JUDGE, a citizen of the United States, residing inlEast Chelmsford, in the town of Chelmsford, in the county of Middlesex and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Game Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to game apparatus designed for playing indoor games similar in some respects to base-ball, and comprises a rotary device which I call a base-runner, having cages or baskets, each adapted to receive a ball, a bat, or ball-placer, adapted to put a ball in one of said cages or baskets and atthe same time to 'set the base-runner in rotation.

Said invention comprises also four base tenders or levers, each adapted to be manipulated to strike the ball up out of a cage on the base-runner as said cage passes said tender into the air, in order that the player at that point or base may catch the ball in his hands on the fly. The positions of the base-tenders correspond to those of the home plate and bases of a base-ball ground. These parts are all supported on a suitable plate or board, the construction of which allows it to be folded when not in use into small space and to contain the base-runner, which may also be folded to permit the folding of the plate.

In the accompanying drawings, on three sheets, Figure 1 is a plan of the apparatus in position for use; Fig. 2, an end View of the case containing the same folded; Fig. 3, a side elevation of the base-tender and a part of the base-runner with a cage containing a ball; Fig. 4, a plan of the parts shown in Fig. 3; Fig. 5, a plan of the hub of the base-runner; Fig. 6, a central vertical section on the line 6 6 in Fig. 4; Figs. 7and 8, respectively, a side elevation and a plan showing in full lines the bat, a cage of the base-runner, and a ball being placed in said cage, and in dotted lines the position of said bat when about to put the ball in the cage.

The base A is a rectangular nearly square board or plate preferably divided lengthwise on parallel lines into three equal parts or sections cm a united by hinges a to enable said base to be folded when not in use by bringing its sides together into the form shown by dotted lines in Fig. 2. When folded, the apparatus may be placed in a long valise or bag B of triangular cross-section, havinga mouth 6, which extends from end to end of said bag B, and having loops or handles 6 Z), by which said bag may be lifted and carried.

The base-runner 0, Figs. 1, S, 6, is supported upon a foot-plate D, secured by bolts or screws (Z to the center of the base A, the hub c of said runner preferably resting upon antifriction balls E, arranged in circular grooves in the top of said foot-plate and in the bottom of said hub. The hub is retained in placeand turns on a vertical stud F, which passes down through said hub and said footplate and is held in said plate by a set-screw f, the latter turning horizontally in said plate and thrusting radially against said stud, said stud having an enlarged head f to prevent said hub from "rising, and said head being let down into said hub flush therewith.

The hub c is provided with four radial arms 0 0 c 0*, arranged at equal angles, two opposite arms 0 0 Fig. 5, being represented as comparatively short and flat on top and the other two, 0 0", beinglonger and having marginal ledges 0 The arms 0 c are provided with holes 0 and the arms 0 c with longitudinal slots 0 The inner portions of the spokes G G G G are secured by bolts 1 and nuts 9 on the arms of the hub, said bolts passing down through said spokes and through the holes 0 and slots 0 and said nuts 9' being screwed on said bolts below said arms.

One pair of spokes G G are in a single piece G, Fig. 4, and rest on the arms 0 0 while the inner ends of the other separate spokes G G* are butted against the singlespoke piece G, the combined length of said spokes G G" being less than said single piece G by the width of said piece, so that the outer ends of all the spokes when the same are in use are at the same distance from the center of the base-runner G. The spokes G G are prevented from turning on the arms 0 c of the hub by the ledges 0 between which they are fitted.

All the nuts g, Figs. 3 and 6, are represented as thumb-nuts. The nuts which hold the single-spoke piece G in place, however, may be of any form, as they will rarely need to be turned; but it is desirable that the nuts which hold the spokes G G" should be capable of being loosened quickly by hand in order that said last-named spokes may be drawn away from the piece G and raised above the ledges c and turned into parallelism with the piece G, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1.

To the outer end of each spoke is secured a cage H H H H, preferably formed of wire,

the middle of the wire being bent into the form of an arch /1/, the strands of wire at the bottom of the arch being looped at /1/ h at each side of the spoke and 'being secured to said spoke by nails or screws ti /1;. From the loops k [l the end portions of said strands are curved downward into half-circles at 71/ it to support a ball, and the one, b of said end portions which is in front when the baserunner is in operation is carried up from the half-circle it for some distance and is inclined toward the corresponding arch /t to prevent the ball 0 from passing through the cage when thrown by the bat. The other end portion a of the wire stops just above the correspond ing half-circle if and is far enough from the arch it to permit the ball to pass freely into the cage. The ends of the wire are turned over at a if" to prevent injury to the hands and to the bat.

The bat I, Figs. 1, 7, and S, is a lever pivoted at one end between vertical ears t t" on a stand 72, said stand being secured to the base-board A in such a position that when the spokes of the base-runner are placed about diagonally to said base-board said bat being in its normal position (shown in Fig. 1 and by dotted lines in Figs. 7 and 8) is at right angles to the nearest one of said spokes and when turned over toward said spoke its free end will fall into or across the corresponding cage between the arch /1/ and the end portions 71. it A lateral projection 21" from the bat l serves as a handle to turn said lever.

The free end portion of thebat l is branched or forked, and the tines t" 11 are bent at 11 forward over the body of said bat and are curved to form the sides of an oval or ellipse, so that a ball 0 placed on said tines in the normal position of the bat will be supported thereby and will be carried into the cage when the lever is turned to the position shown in full lines in Figs. 7 and 8. The pressure of the tines upon the ball after the latter reaches the bottom of the cage will obviously crowd the ball and cage away from the bat and set the base-runner in rotation, the tines at this time being inclined to the ball, as shown in Fig. 7. The tines lie in the same plane with each other and are near enough together to allow them to pass down into the cage, and the space t" between the tines above the bend 2" allows the ball to pass easily from the bat when the cage moves away from the bat.

Radially with the center of the base-runner at all four corners of the base are placed basetenders J J J J, each consisting of a lever supported upon a suitable stand j, Figs. 1, 3, and 4, each of said base-tenders having at its outer end a suitable handle y", a stop 7" to limit the downward movement of the inner end of said base-tender, and a horizontallylooped inner end narrower than the space between the half-circles it of a cage. The

player at the base-tender is supposed by del pressing the handle of said tender to throw the inner end of said tender up through the bottom of a cage as it passes him, thereby throwingthe ball out of the cage into the air, and to catch the ball in the hands on the fly, or before the ball alights.

In practice the apparatus will be. placed on a table of ordinary height.

Considerable skill is required in the manipulation of the bat or ball-placer to prevent the ball from rolling off the bat before it reaches the cage and from being thrown beyond the cage.

The basemen must operate the base-tenders at just the right time to remove the ball from the moving cage.

Two or more persons, up to nine on aside, may play games with this apparatus; but four on a side is the preferred number. For instance, after determining by lot or otherwise which side shall have the first inning the players who have the innings take turns at the bat and the players of the other side are placed each at one of the base-tenders, and if there are enough players the remaining players of the side which is out are placed in positions corresponding to those occupied by the fielders and short stop in base-ball. If any ball is knocked out of acage and caught before reacl ing the floor or ground,the player at the bat is out and is succeeded by another player on the same side, and when three players are out the side is out and the other side have their Q When a ball goes around to the home base, or starting-point, it counts one or a run. for the side having the innings. Unsuccessful attempts to put the ball in the cage or failures of the ball if properly placed in the cage to reach the next base or first base will be considered strikes. If the ball sticks in the cage, as between the arch and one of the end portions it or between said end portions, and does not seat itself properly, it is called a foul ball and does not count.

An umpire may be chosen to call or decide on points, and the game may be played in a manner closely resembling base-ball.

1 claim as my invention 1. The combination in a game apparatus, of a base-board consisting of parallel sections, hinges uniting each section to the next section, a stand secured to a section of said baseboard, and a spider or base-runner journaled on said stand and provided with a hub and having two spokes formed in a single piece rigidly secured to the hub of said spider, other separate spokes arranged on opposite sides of said single-spoke piece and normally extending therefrom at an angle therewith and arranged in grooves, with which said hub is provided, and thumb-screws normally to retain said separate spokes in said grooves and to l permit said separate spokes to be folded into parallelism with said single-spoke piece over one of said sections, when said screws are loosened.

2. The combination of the base-board, a stand supported thereon, a base-runner rotary on said stand and having spokes, cages supported on the free ends of said spokes and adapted to receive and retain a ball, and each having an opening at one side, another stand supported on said board, and a hat or lever pivoted on said stand and adapted to hold a ball and to be turned to deposit said ball in a cage and to set said base-runner in rotation.

3. The combination of the base-board, a stand supported thereon, a base-runner rotary on said stand and having radial spokes, cages supported on the free ends of said spokes and adapted to receive and retain a ball, and each having an opening at one side, another stand supported on said board, and a hat or lever pivoted on said stand and adapted to hold a 'ball and having a handle by which said bat may be turned to deposit said ball in a cage and to set said base-runner in rotation, and by which said bat may be returned to normal position.

4. The combination of the base-board, a stand supported thereon, a base-runner rotary on said stand and having radial spokes, cages supported on the free ends of said spokes and each adapted to receive and retain a ball and each having an opening from bottom to top thereof, arranged radially to said base-runner, other stands supported on said base-board, base tenders or levers, each pivoted on one of said last-named stands and arranged radially to said base-runner, and each adapted to be turned to throw a ball out of a passing cage.

In testimony whereof I have aflixed my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

CHARLES R. JUDGE.

Witnesses:

ALBERT M. MOORE, BENJ. P. AMBROSE. 

